Vulnerable Redcurrants
by Imyoshi
Summary: That tear inside her soul grew bigger.


**Disclaimer:** I own nothing of Kim Possible.

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 **Vulnerable Redcurrants**

 **By: Imyoshi**

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed was considered a superstition by even the greatest of minds.

Her eyes barely open and she fidgeted in place until she tumbled over the left side of her bed where she never ventured to. Her bare feet and wiggly toes ignore the fuzzy feel of the carpet beneath them, and she let out a tired yawn, stretching her arms above her head. Seconds pass and the hero girl dragged her body up, heading straight for her closet to retrieve an outfit for her morning shower.

 _Beep_! _Beep_! _Beep_!

Startled, Kim looked over to her alarm clock and was surprised at herself for not realizing she beat her alarm clock this fine Saturday morning. Odd? Against popular belief, Kim hated waking up early. No one— _including_ her—enjoyed waking up in the morning, especially on a Saturday, but today marked a very important event in her life. One she had been waiting for all week. So it came to no one's surprise her body's more up and alert than usual.

Kim Possible was to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for saving the world countless times. And the excitement had yet to settle down between her nervous nerves. Even after being given some time to swallow the whole event, she's still a giddy-girl over the entire ordeal. To make the event truly special, the committee decided to hold the event in Upperton, just for her.

Smiling, she shut off her alarm clock and took a fast shower. Her family's not home, having left a note saying they're already there by the bathroom door. The seating arrangement was a merciless issue during these types of events and as such, they had to depart earlier than her to find their spots and devour the buffet table. Kim could only imagine the Tweebs discomfort at having to wake up early on a Saturday morning. Such a thought made her smile grow.

Returning to her room, she plucked out her mission outfit from her closet, prepared to show the world a hero was always ready to jump in and save them. No dresses for this teen girl. A hidden luxury she took some joy in. Not liking the idea of wearing a constricting dress for more than a few hours at best. She had always been a loose clothing type of girl. Just look at her stylish tank tops and cargo pants, the evidence spoke for itself.

Dressed and ready, Kim did a quick overlook on her mirror before nodding her head in a job well done, but paused a moment to style her hair a little more.

 _Ding-dong_!

Whipping her head toward the stairway, she quickly put her brush down, but was stopped when the darn thing fell on the floor from leaning over the edge. She quickly scooped it up and placed the item on her dresser before racing down to meet and greet the only person she could imagine ringing at her door at this moment, her best friend Ron.

Somersaulting down from halfway on the stairway, Kim quietly pondered over the missing details the Nobel Prize coordinator failed to include for her, just remembering as she zeroed in on the door. Odd enough, the hero girl couldn't remember them ever telling her about Ron's involvement in the celebration, but she's sure it would work itself all out. Maybe Ron's pants would fall? Now that would be a sight for those old geezers to see.

Landing down on her feet, she heard a small creak echo off from her side, and her eyes land on hers and Ron's childhood picture tilting off to the side. She glared weakly at the mishap, quickly fixing the photo in record time before reaching the door where Ron's knocking had increased in volume.

"Such a weird morning?" she quietly said, twisting the knob. Ron's on the other side. "Hey, Ron! Ready to head out?!"

"Ah!" he complained almost instantly, throwing his weight back to lean his head. "Why are all the ceremonies we go to have to be so early? Why can't they do these things... like at noon? I'm a reasonable guy, I would settle for three or four... maybe even two if you provide Bueno Nacho!"

Kim smiled a lopsided smirk, pinching Ron quickly on his cheek before rushing him out. He's dressed in his mission outfit as well, although, he didn't seem as excited as she was. Nothing she didn't expect, but Kim would think Ron would be a little bit more stoked. Then again, this was her friend who prioritized greasy, cheesy food over homework, so what did she know.

Grabbing him by the sleeve, she pulled Ron toward Upperton. "C'mon, Mr. 2 AM, we're going to be late."

Ron just looked down at her hands, pointing nonchalantly at her tight fingers. "KP? I thought we talked about the thread ripping. I only got so many of these shirts!"

Kim rolled her eyes at her enigma of a friend, pulling _extra_ hard so Ron could move his butt. They walk in a short silence to the building hosting the ceremony before Ron engaged in talks about dreams he had with monkeys and mole people. Turns out it was a nightmare as Ron proved to be quite adamant in posing what the mutant mole people did. Kim simply listened, nodding her head and holding back some bouts of laughter, trying not to giggle at what Ron claimed to be a nightmarish dream. She must've not been hiding her emotions well enough because Ron called her out on it moments later.

"Hey! Are you mocking my dreams?" Kim shook her head with a straight face that simply shattered seconds later. "You are! Wow! Who knew _the_ Kim Possible could be so harsh to her best friend!"

"It's so not the drama, Ron!" she defended. "It was just a dream. Do you see any mutant mole people around here?"

Ron looked skeptical at her answer, cautiously checking the ground beneath his feet a few times. "Say what you want, KP, but with our track record, mole people are just around the corner. Mark my words! You heard it from me first."

Shaking her head, Kim refrained from indulging in Ron's crazy theories, knowing each word she said was only adding to the pile of dirt she accumulated from digging herself deeper into this insane talk of theirs. So Kim opted to give Ron the win, knowing it's a hollow defeat for her. Besides, she had a whole lifetime to push Ron's buttons. And they're just so push-able!

Reaching the science-y building—that Ron so elegantly dubbed—both of them were stopped by a person wearing a suit and holding a clipboard with a frown colder than dirt. He's wearing shades and was an imposing figure, proving to be taller than the both of them, but what made up for in height, he lacked in hair. Didn't make him any less intimidating. The opposite in fact!

When he peered toward Kim's direction, his frown was replaced with a light smile and he held his hands out for Kim. "Ah, Kim Possible, we've been expecting you. Everyone inside was already seated and waiting for you to arrive. With you here, that's everyone on the list. If you would please step this way, we may begin the ceremony." Kim and Ron move forward, but the sidekick's stopped when the bouncer halted him by placing his entire arm in Ron's way. "Sorry, Miss Possible, this is a very exclusive event and the seating arrangements have already been made. We cannot fit your friend in."

Kim frowned deeply.

They never informed her of this. In fact, she couldn't even recall them once ever mentioning Ron receiving the same award when they informed her of all the gritty details, and that little snippet of info erupted a fury of emotions dwelling deep inside the hero girl. However, they remained buried, probably having fallen into that hole she dug earlier. She instead fixed the man, guarding the entrance, with a critical stare, throwing her hands onto her hips that would make Bonnie Rockwaller proud.

"Hold on!" she argued. Kim was part of a team—a team! There was no _one_ , no _I_ , no _her_ , only _them_! "Ron's my best friend and he always goes on missions with me. He's as important as I am. How could he not be on the list? There must be some kind of mistake. Could you please check again."

The man pouted his lip a bit, flicking through the papers, checking to see if he missed anyone or _overlooked_ a name. He didn't. And he glanced up to tell Kim Possible that, meeting her mix matched glare with his own. It's not as powerful coming from him when _the_ Kim Possible tended to be the opponent, but he's a man following his job. He didn't make the rules.

"He's not on the list. I don't know what you want me to tell you."

Kim filled in the blanks for him. "I want you to tell me Ron's on the list."

Before the man could argue, Ron jumped in and acted as a barrier. "Whoa! Whoa! Hold up!" Pushing Kim away for a second, Ron smiled easy at the man. "If you would just give us a second... we'll be right back." When they're out of range of his hearing, Ron sighed and smiled sadly at Kim. "Kim, you already know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

"There's no way I'm leaving you behind!" Kim growled. "We both save the world! You should be going in there, too! I'm not leaving you out here! It's not fair!"

Ron merely shook his head, grabbing her by the shoulders. "KP... you and I both know this is too big for you to pass up. It's the Nobel Peace prize for Naco's sake! Sure, to me, it might be some tacky gold metal on a string, but to everyone else, it's more! Way more!" Kim's getting ready to shake her head. "Don't worry about me. It's no big."

She's torn inside.

Kim's not a clueless sheep. Not some slave to peer pressure. She could at times be shallow, but no one's perfect; still, she's not a monster. She knew the paths given before her. To the left of her were praise, recognition, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity waiting for her. To the right was Ron Stoppable, her clueless and totally perfect best friend who had been by her side since this crazy sitch started. There's no way she could have saved the world without him. This she knew without a doubt—one-hundred and ten percent!

"It's not fair..."

Ron laughed, having come to expect Kim to lose all the fight in her. He flicked his head toward the building. "Go on, KP!" Ron shooed her, smiling lightly in a completely understanding way. "I'll be fine. You can tell me all about the party after. Bueno Nacho! Your treat!"

Conflicted, Kim glared weakly and Ron's natural smile melted away her resolve without even trying. She tried to find some words to push her forward, but Ron's having none of that, pushing her back to the man waiting to let her in and accept her award. Before she could even stop him, the man's thrusting the clipboard into Kim's hands and the hero girl spotted her name on the top of guest list. For a brief moment in time, she contemplated breaking the damn clipboard in half, already bending the wood between her fingers. She didn't in the end, and quietly scratched her name off and walked into the building with Ron staying behind, waving sympathetically as she left.

That tear inside her soul grew bigger.

...

The award ceremony was everything she dreamed it was and then some. Cheers for her heroic bravery had echoed across the auditorium when she had accepted her award with her father trumping all of them. Her mother mentioned countless times how proud she was, nodding quietly to Kim's frustrations of Ron not being allowed inside. Even the Tweebs had joined in on the good times, poking Kim's metal she proudly hung over her neck. Sparks of conversation burned with Kim's achievements in her life and her status of teen hero, and even the girl of the hour couldn't deny the praise she was given. To be fair, she did try to pass herself as an average girl to look humble, but her claim was shot down by everyone within seconds.

Who was she kidding? Kimberly Ann Possible was anything but average.

The evening was only broken when the Kimmunicator in her pocket went off. And as she checked for Wade's incoming call—since he didn't come because he preferred his own room—she's surprised to find a missed message on the device. By the time she accepted the call, Wade's looking hysterically at her, moving chaotically in her room. She must've not heard the Kimmunicator go off the first time with all the high cheering going on around her.

No pleasantries were given and Kim couldn't even say _Go, Wade_! "Kim! Bank robbery in Middleton! Super bad guys! They're all armed with explosives!"

Going into mission mode, everyone in the building observed their hero get ready. "On it! I'll call Ron!"

Wade appeared nervous. "Ron's already there, Kim. He answered first before you."

Now she's mad! "Why did he go alone?!" Kim really didn't have to ask. She knew Ron's afraid, but like her, he couldn't abandon people in need! "Just give me the coordinates and ETA on my ride."

"About a minute, they'll be outside by the time you get out."

Running out the building, Kim completely ignore the cheering going on for her in the background, suddenly finding their approval meaning absolutely nothing in the chaos of things. People were in trouble and Ron's there. Her stomach's getting queasy just thinking about it. And that's more than real enough for this crime fighter. Next time she wouldn't let Ron go it alone, neither on a mission nor an award ceremony.

By the time she's outside, her ride's waiting for her. The drive to the bank in question was short and not even the driver dared to make small talk with Kim's unnaturally cold glare. When they do make it to the crime scene, cops were surrounding the bank with their weapons aimed. And the second Kim stepped out her ride, Officer Hobble was making his way toward her. He did a quick double take on the medal hanging over her chest, but lost interest relatively fast.

"Officer Hobble, what's the sitch?"

"It's bad in there! The robbers have set up the bank to explode with the flip of a switch. There's hostages and their strapped with explosives. Only one person has gone in there to stop them." Hobble didn't need to say Ron's name. "He snuck in through the air vent."

Heart racing, Kim followed Ron's plan, heading straight into the air vent he crawled through. She could feel the subsidence in the metal from where he must've crawled. The feeling churned a strong emotion to breathe life into her lungs and she found herself crawling faster, so fast that she almost missed spotting Ron's blond, unkempt ruff of hair peeking out from outside the vent's ventilation. He's lurking behind the robbers, silently ordering Rufus to discreetly chew through the hostage's bindings and explosive vest as he got into position to strike the man holding the switch.

Another feeling sprouted in Kim's chest.

She felt proud.

Then Ron's dumb luck finally ran out as one of the armed men spotted him sneaking up on their leader. Ron barely had time to react as the man turned to aim his gun at him, finger already on the trigger, itching to fire. That's when Kim lunged out the vents and tackled the man, alerting the robbers and aiding Ron in the perfect distraction to reach and slap the controller out of the man's hands.

"Stop them!" the leader yelled, trying to reach for the device, but Rufus scurried across and grabbed the remote. "Get back here!"

Knocking the man off his feet, Ron pushed another man away from aiming at Kim, while the hero girl jumped onto another robber, using his face as a stepping stone to lunge forward and spin kick the man across from her. Throughout the entire commotion, the hostages manage to take off their vest and escape, no longer tied down thanks to Rufus's intervention, leaving only Kim and Ron to deal with the aftermath.

The duo exchange no words, knowing how dire this sitch could be if they get distracted. Even with the hostages free, explosives were still tittered around the area of the bank that they're surrounded in. And both the heroes have a sinking feeling the robbers wouldn't just let them go, at least not without a bullet to their backs. So they stay and fight, until the policemen deem all the hostages were safe and free from the blast radius before charging in. It's seconds at the most, but seconds were what determined choices. And both the teens know this to heart.

Scampering away from the fighting, Rufus peeked back to make sure Ron and Kim were okay, not seeing the boot in front of him until it's a second too late. The poor mole rat crashed into the shoe, losing control of the detonator and being forced to dodge the attempted step on his head. His attention was focused on the man trying to crush him, never noticing the device sliding up to the leader. And the moment the leader grabbed the remote, the policemen were charging in, pointing their guns at them. This only entitled a laugh from the criminal who glared toward Kim's direction, noticing she's right in the vicinity of the blast radius.

If he's going to go down, then he's not leaving empty-handed. "Die!"

Jerking from the surprise yell, the metal tied around her neck swished from Kim's quick movements, squarely hitting her on the nose. The action stunned her just long enough for the man to activate the detonator before Officer Hobble could take him down. Only Ron had been fast enough to move his legs and react to the leader's yell. His legs move automatically, driven by pure instinct, running faster than he had ever run before. For the love of all things Naco, Ron hoped his mad running away skills really were the best in the world. Bragging's all good for a laugh or two, but he desperately wished his running wasn't put to waste.

 _Boom_!

Succumbing to the vibrations of the incoming explosion, Kim barely whipped her head toward the inferno of death heading toward her. The explosion before her burned brightly in her eyes. She's frozen in place, unable to react to the fiery inferno challenging her petite demeanor. Instincts were unusually quiet when she needed them the most. And for one meaningful second, her memories flash before her eyes in a sea of happiness. She's almost content to living within the emotions, but Ron's powerful voice and strong arms shake her out of it.

"KP!"

Kim didn't realize Ron pushed her away from the metal, concrete, and fire until she stumbled painfully onto the ground. Every corner of the bank shook from the foundation of the explosion and she's trying to stop the ringing in her ears. Her body shook! Her heart thumped loudly! And she felt the pit of her stomach—of her soul—shatter, like something bad just happened! Majorly bad! Then, like a torrent of memories, they all come back and she sat up faster than she thought possible, swishing her line of sight where Ron had pushed and saved her life.

Between the smoke and cries from the civilians, policemen and robbers, Kim could barely make out a strangled cough where a body was lying on the floor. She couldn't see much of the body from the smoke, but the cargo pants and tight-fitting black shirt was all the conformation she needed to stand up and wobble over while she's nursing a cut on her arm. The blood dripping down her forearm was nothing compared to the gratitude she's feeling and Kim couldn't wait to see Ron, except, she silently wished she didn't the moment she made it to him.

A circle of blood surrounded the floor and clung to her mission shoes when she stepped close enough. She couldn't even find the energy to _gasp_ , stricken by silent horror instead. Her arms begin to shake, her body weakened, and her soul broke into two pieces. Eventually, the hero girl found the strength in her legs give out, forcing her to level with Ron on the floor. And he's suffering immensely.

"Ron!" she grabbed his arm, searching for a pulse. When she found one, she breathed a sigh of relief that's very short-lived. "Stay with me, Ron! Just hold on, I'll get help!"

She's kneeling right beside him, holding his weak palm in her shaky one. That ever reliable smile of his was nowhere to be seen and she's scared to death at the _possibility_ of never seeing it again. Vulnerability was hitting her like a ton of bricks and Kim couldn't properly breathe anymore. The damn metal around her neck wasn't helping either and she promptly ripped it off, throwing the damn thing across the burning bank. Somewhere the metal got lost in the rubble. It meant nothing to Kim.

A childlike innocence in her believed Ron would be perfectly okay. Another part of her just begged for Ron to survive. The realistic side of her knew it's for naught. The pool of blood around him continued to grow with the sound of a nearby ambulance too far for her liking. All she could manage in her weaken body was to pull Ron's head onto her lap to ease some of the pain. There's yelling going on in the background and the smoke was burning her lungs, but she refused to leave him. Yet, through it all, he still managed to weakly open his eyes, exhausted and losing life by the seconds. Blood trailed down his jaw, splashing carelessly on her mission pants as she rested Ron's head in her lap.

"Hey... Kim..." Ron gasped, using all his willpower to keep his smile growing. Now that she had him in her arms, Kim could see the burn marks all over his body and face. "Are you... okay?" Kim's lower lip wobbled and she did a weak nod. He took the good news with tired vigor and tilted his head to smile at the ceiling. "Booyah."

The sound of the ambulance was getting closer and she held him close. "Just hold on, Ron, help's on the way."

Ron looked at her for a long second, momentarily losing that easy smile of his before recalling the emotion back. He could feel it and she could see it in his eyes. He's not going to make it. He couldn't feel his body anymore and it's getting harder for him to keep his eyes open. Time's running out and neither of them were ever good at goodbyes. And against her better judgment, Kim harshly shook her head, not wanting to accept the sitch for how it was. Not when help's just around the corner. Not when it was so damn close!

How? How could everything turn out so bad? Today was supposed to be a good day! Not a bad one! No one was supposed to die! Definitely not Ron! Not Ron!

Kim struggled to accept the reality of the sitch in front of her. If only she had forced Ron inside the ceremony! If only they had left together! If only she didn't abandon him when she knew he would've never done that to her. If only she could be given a second chance! They could've left on the mission together! Things could've been different! Plans would've been made. But there were no buts or ifs for her or Ron.

Taking a last deep breath, Ron smiled once more as the paramedics rushed in. "Goodbye... Ki—!"

 _Gasp_!

Sitting up in a panic, Kim took in hectic breaths as the bumping in her chest threatened to break out her ribcage. Her heart's racing a mile a minute and there's a thin line of sweat on her arms and face. And it took her a long minute to realize she's in her bed and everything had turned out to be a terrible, horrible, heart-crushing nightmare.

So why couldn't she shake off the goose bumps?

 _Beep_! _Beep_! _Beep_!

Startled, Kim looked over to her alarm clock, surprised she beat the device again? The noise it's making sort of soothed her soul.

Tracing her fingers on her skin, she rationally controlled her breathing, accepting the strange dream as nothing more than a nightmare. That's why she beat her alarm clock again, had to be. True, she was anxious for her upcoming Nobel Peace prize award, but the dream's still haunting all the dark corners of her mind. It just seemed so real to her that shaking off the scary feeling was harder than it sounded.

Getting up, she eased her conscious with rationality and shut off her alarm clock, skipping over to meet the floor. Nothing like denial to lift the spirits, and just like before, she let out a tired yawn, feeling the fuzzy carpet play with her toes, impossible to ignore this time with her emotions all over the place. She followed her dream down to the point of dragging her body to the shower. Nothing strange happened between the shower and the part where she got dressed, but then the doorbell rung once more, signaling Ron's arrival.

It's all so normal that Kim didn't make heads or tails of it, having mostly forgotten her nightmare from the warm shower, until she walked down the stairs. And for the second time in half an hour, Kim almost felt her heart break out of her chest.

The picture frame of Ron and her got tilted as soon as she passed by it, moving in the same exact angle as in her dream. Understandable enough, she's almost afraid to touch it, but fought the urge down and moved the frame back into place with a haunting feeling crawling up her chest. She ignored the quietness of her house, answering the door and anxiously waiting to see Ron's careless smile, but she's greeted with Ron's passive frown with his head thrown back like in her dream.

"Ah!" he complained almost instantly, throwing his weight back to lean his head. "Why are all the ceremonies we go to have to be so early? Why can't they do these things... like at noon? I'm a reasonable guy, I would settle for three or four... maybe even two if you provide Bueno Nacho!"

Kim did everything she could to prevent herself from screaming her heart out. It took a lot of willpower—way more than she normally had and could probably muster up for the rest of her natural life—to not hug Ron right then and there. She instead met his complaints with the exact words she used in her dream, finding it frighteningly haunting when Ron responded with the exact words she desperately wished weren't ever said. Only difference, she couldn't find it in herself to laugh at Ron's funny dreams, no longer finding the sitch humorous.

She did listen to him rant as they head to the ceremony, immensely enjoying the sound of his voice more and more than she thought possible. His frantic movements and subtle tones he used to emphasize what he saying really grabbed her. Each and every word out his mouth was too similar for the hero girl and Kim had to fight the need to rip out her own hair.

In what she called a life, Kim learned a few things. First, there wasn't such a thing as coincidence, she knew there wasn't. Obviously, she knew Ron well enough to mimic his speech patterns down perfectly in her dreams, but she's not sold on the idea at all. She may live in a world full of technology, but she also lived in a world full of magic. And her family motto really did tie the whole knot together quite perfectly.

Then the moment of truth appeared before her, the moment where everything changed, where the man before her hadn't allowed Ron access to the event. Perfectly enough, she parroted her lines, acting out every emotion and tried not to let Ron's sympathetic smile distract her— _not this time_.

So when she reached for the clipboard and gripped the wooden clipboard between her fingers, Kim allowed her inner instincts to take over and promptly broke the board in two before shoving the remaining halves back into the confused bouncer's hands. Then, to everyone's great confusion, she grabbed Ron by the shoulder and dragged them away from the event without a single regret given.

Of course Ron's instantly on her case, stopping her dead in her tracks with a panicked expression.

"But... KP?! You just walked away from accepting the biggest prize in the world! What can be important than letting everyone in the world know how totally badical you are?" Kim scoffed at the claim.

The Nobel Peace Prize? Whatever. That's just a _tacky gold metal on a string_. She could win one of those anytime. But this, _this_ was real. Real enough to ditch a room full of stuffy old scientist and politicians for, because without Ron Stoppable by her side, well, life's not worth moving forward unless he's walking alongside her, cracking jokes to keep her smile warm and strong. And unless those old geezers in there decided to get with the program, that metal could collect dust in the back of a broom closet for all she cared.

In the end, maybe in a different time, different universe, even, Ron would've died and passed on. To who knew where could be anyone's honest guess. Maybe Ron would've passed on without trouble. Or maybe he would've found a way to beat Death and live on. He could've even befriended a new soul and found a life worth living outside their own. Really, when she truly thought about it, Kimberly didn't care; she didn't have to or want to for that matter. Ron's alive. That's all that mattered. And that alone meant more to her than some tacky gold metal on a string.

Kim Possible never realized she woke up on the _right_ side of her bed that morning, perfectly thrilled to have avoided her nightmare altogether. Such concerns eluded her. And honestly, why did she even need the world to know how truly badical she really was? Ron Stoppable's more than enough for her. Not even _he_ could _distract_ her from that.

"You are."

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 **Author Notes:** Edited **\- 2/14/2018**


End file.
